CVE-2023-52932

System hang via nonyielding swap scan

Published Mar 27, 2025 · Updated May 23, 2026

Denial of service in the Linux kernel allows local users to trigger a soft lockup by creating extreme pressure across swap devices. In mm/swapfile.c, get_swap_pages() can iterate tens of thousands of times while searching same-priority swap devices without calling cond_resched() after allocation failures. Low-privileged local access and extreme memory pressure on a system with numerous same-priority swap devices can leave a CPU stuck long enough to hang kernel work.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in the Linux kernel allows local users to trigger a soft lockup by creating extreme pressure across swap devices. In mm/swapfile.c, get_swap_pages() can iterate tens of thousands of times while searching same-priority swap devices without calling cond_resched() after allocation failures. Low-privileged local access and extreme memory pressure on a system with numerous same-priority swap devices can leave a CPU stuck long enough to hang kernel work.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-52932
Published
Mar 27, 2025
Updated
May 23, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-667, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 27, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 23, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=3.12.30 <3.13
  2. Affected versionversion=3.14.21 <3.15
  3. Affected versionversion=3.16
  4. Affected versionversion=75b1f2d3ed3169675b69b2f68217ebb839414657
  5. Affected versionversion=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <29f0349c5c76b627fe06b87d4b13fa03a6ce8e64
  6. Affected versionversion=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <30187be29052bba9203b0ae2bdd815e0bc2faaab
  7. Affected versionversion=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <387217b97e99699c34e6d95ce2b91b327fcd853e
  8. Affected versionversion=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <49178d4d61e78aed8c837dfeea8a450700f196e2
  9. Affected versionversion=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <5dbe1ebd56470d03b78fc31491a9e4d433106ef2
  10. Affected versionversion=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <7717fc1a12f88701573f9ed897cc4f6699c661e3
  11. Affected versionversion=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <d49c85a1913385eed46dd16a25ad0928253767f0
  12. Affected versionversion=bcbfe6fdf8576a545fafdfe4611f59cc6b166589

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=3.12.30 <3.13; version=3.14.21 <3.15; version=3.16; version=75b1f2d3ed3169675b69b2f68217ebb839414657; version=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <29f0349c5c76b627fe06b87d4b13fa03a6ce8e64; version=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <30187be29052bba9203b0ae2bdd815e0bc2faaab; version=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <387217b97e99699c34e6d95ce2b91b327fcd853e; version=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <49178d4d61e78aed8c837dfeea8a450700f196e2; version=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <5dbe1ebd56470d03b78fc31491a9e4d433106ef2; version=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <7717fc1a12f88701573f9ed897cc4f6699c661e3; version=adfab836f4908deb049a5128082719e689eed964 <d49c85a1913385eed46dd16a25ad0928253767f0; version=bcbfe6fdf8576a545fafdfe4611f59cc6b166589

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-667Improper Locking
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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